Tonight: A Reed in the Wind at the Sonnet Theatre

Tonight: A Reed in the Wind

Web Site Story

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

pointed out by Noah

Saturday in New York

I was a tour guide today for a lovely young lady named Elizabeth and her Dad from Wisconsin - we caught the International Immigrants Day Parade on 6th Avenue; took in the 42nd Street Library where we saw the McGraw Rotunda, the Rose Reading Room and the Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson's handwriting; toured Rockefeller Plaza, saw part of a wedding at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and went to the Top of the Rock. The best part of the tour ends at the Shubert later when my payment comes in the form of a lovely ticket to Blithe Spirit. I'll never pass up the opportunity to see this play...plus the bonus pay is that Elizabeth is a huge fan of Angela Lansbury and this is her first time to see her perform live.

Coppery pink cotton ball sky over Broadway

And the work begins

I've started working on the preliminary Great Ticket Scramble for the 2009/10 season. I've told you before how very complicated this is. We can do Broadway whenever there's a wim, but in the classical, opera and concert world, the opportunities to experience great singers is oh so limited. Of course, we will supplement our season with rush tickets, especially at the Metropolitan Opera, and possibly at City Opera (I vow not to be an opera snob this year). These are most of my must-sees and some wish-to-sees (a couple are a done deal):

9/16 La Diva Renee opens NY Phil season, Avery Fisher (PBS broadcast)
9/21 Tosca – Opening Night, Met Opera - Plaza Cast?
9/26 Helen Mirren in Phedre,DC Shakespeare
10/1-5 Gone to London, something at Convent Garden or West End
10/13 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met
10/14 Tosca, The Met
10/16 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met
10/19 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met
10/22 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met
11/5 Thomas Hampson, Avery Fisher
11/14 Christine Ebersole, Kennedy Center
11/22 Richard Tucker Gala, Avery Fisher Hall
12/1 Il Trittico, The Met
12/10 Elektra,The Met
12/20 Stephanie Blithe, Met Orchestra,Carnegie Hall
1/6 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met
1/9 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met – Live in HD Broadcast
1/15 Der Rosenkavalier, The Met
2/13 Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre, Arlington
2/23 Attila, The Met
3/6 Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre, Arlington
3/16 Hamlet, The Met
3/26 Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre, Arlington
4/3 Porgy & Bess, WNO – Kennedy Center
4/4 Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre, Arlington
4/5 Elijah – BSO (Brewer, Blithe), Carnegie Hall
4/19 Armida, The Met
4/22 Frederica von Stade, Carnegie Hall
4/28 Oedipus Rex(Meier, Griffey, Petrenko, Timchenko), Avery Fisher
5/6-8 Sondheim at 80, NSO Pops – Kennedy Center
5/8 Bernadette Peters, Minneapolis
5/16 Deborah Polaski, Met Orchestra,Carnegie Hall
6/3 Susan Graham & Saint-Saens’s Organ Symphony, Avery Fisher
6/18 Patti LuPone's Coulda Shoulda Woulda, Minneapolis
6/24 Beethoven’s Missa solemnis(Brewer, Blythe, Groves, Owens), Avery Fisher

Save the Date: 2009 Richard Tucker Gala

Set the DiVaR for Patricia Racette as Madama Butterfly

Patricia Racette's broadcast of Madama Butterfly at the Met is on Thirteen WNET this Thursday June 24th at 9:00 pm. Additional airdates in New York are Saturday, June 27th at 2:30am on Thirteen, Sunday, June 28th at 12pm on Thirteen, and Sunday, June 28th at 3pm on WLIW21.

I have seen this production by the late Anthony Minghella a number time - in an open dress rehearsal, a plaza cast on opening night, twice again in the house and again last season.

Patricia has performed Butterfly all over the world since 1988, more than any contemporary soprano. Last year, before Patricia took on the role in this particular Met production, I had the opportunity to visit with her for a few minutes. I conveyed to her my excitement of seeing her in this production. At the time, she hoped that she would get the Live in HD broadcast, even though she was splitting the role with Cristina Gallardo-Domâs.

After Mr. Minghella passed away suddenly, the Met announced that it would be Gallardo-Domâs for the broadcast. Crushing news. While I thought Gallardo-Domâs acted the role fine, her voice had a shredded sound. Nobody sounded better to me than Patricia (I've seen two other sopranos as well), nor could anybody act the role better. When the broadcast date came near, however, Gallardo-Domâs unfortunately took ill and fortunately for Patricia was able to step in. Perhaps it was fate.

Even if you're not an opera fan, you shouldn't miss this PBS broadcast. It's breathtaking, and with Patricia as Butterfly, it's even more unforgettable.

@nypl - The Declaration of Independence is Between the Lions

Here's another reason to go to the New York Public Library. This time, head to the 42nd Street Library, the one that's between the Lions on 5th Avenue, also known as the The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library. The NYPL's "fair copy of the Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson's hand will be the centerpiece of a display that will include several other landmark versions of the document and early newspaper printings, as well as an autograph letter from Benjamin Franklin to George Washington." This Independence Day Celebration by the NYPL is on from June 25 through July 31 (closed July 3 through July 5).

Tonight: Born for Broadway

Tonight: Born for Broadway, a cabaret gala benefitting the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Marcia Milgrom Dodge ("Ragtime" at the Kennedy Center) directs. Larry Yurman ("Grey Gardens") is the Musical Director. Richard Kind hosts.

Cast:
James Naughton
Randy Graff
Douglas Sills
Malcolm Gets
Julia Murney
Aaron Lazar
Kate Baldwin
Annaleigh Ashford
Adrian Bailey
Patrick Boyd
Barbara Folts
Rosena Hill
Doug Kreeger
Marissa Perry
Michele Ragusa
Michael Rice
Steve Rosen
Graham Rowat
Rob Sutton
Emily Swallow
Noah Weisberg
Kathleen Monteleone
Ali Stroker
Chris Pinnella
Claire Howard
Sarah Galli

Rain out at the Public

Tonight at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, the rain began in earnest just before the 8:00 curtain. We had a good time waiting. Some of the audience began singing songs like Put on a Happy Face, You Are My Sunshine, etc.

At almost 9:00 pm, the leads of Twelfth Night, Raul Esparza, Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald and Julie White, took the stage in gorgeous costume, under umbrellas. Alas, it wasn't to perform, only to announce that they wouldn't be able to go on with the show tonight because of the lateness - there's an agreement with Central Park that they must be out at midnight. Sigh.

Hopefully I'll get another chance to see the actual performance before it closes on July 12th. With me were my dear friends Chris from Everything I Know I learned from Musicals, Byrne from StageBuzz.com, Mondschein from Third Row Mezzanine and Russell.

Heart of the City at The Theatre at 30th Street

Friday night, I saw Heart of the City, by Eric Lane.

I loved the play. It was a series of encounters and relationship stories told in short vignettes over about 90 minutes. It reminded me of Love Actually, without the sentimentality. The excellent ensemble cast is Eliza Foss, Scott Kerns, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Martin LaPlatney, Melissa Miller and Mark Setlock, who each play multiple characters. Martha Banta directs.

The story is about people who encounter each other, a few by kismet, a few in existing, evolving or ending, relationships - husband and wife, parents and children, new lovers, and some are slowly building into new friendships. As the play unfolds, it becomes evident that each of the stories is related. The only character who seems unrelated to any of the others is Carlos, a young gay man who has immigrated from Spain to find love. We learn his story through his narration, a monologue that breaks the fourth wall. He has unseen random encounters in New York and eventually it's New York City that is his relationship. Scott Kerns is adorable as Carlos.

Heart of the City runs at The Theatre on 30th Street, an intimate 100 seater between 7th and 8th Avenue, through June 28th.

Quote of the Day

Kid with camera - We'd love to be involved with the investigation. Maybe shoot some tape?

Lennie - Hey kid, this isn't show business. It's police business.

Ed - Sorry, Lenny, this could have been your chance.

Lennie - I'll wait for the musical.

Jerry Orbach as Lennie, Jesse L. Martin as Ed, Law & Order, Season 11, Episode 15: Swept Away - A Very Special Episode

Jesse was in the original cast of Rent. But Jerry, nominated for three Tonys and the recipient of one for Promises, Promises in 1969, was in more musicals than almost any male stage performer. He originated the iconic roles Billy Flynn in Chicago, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, and Julian Marsh in 42nd Street.

Tonight: Heart of the City

Tonight: we're heading down to The Theatre at 30th Street
to see Heart of the City, a new play by Eric Lane.

Just as I wouldn't turn down another glass of champagne, I wouldn't turn down another trip to Blithe Spirit

Last night I went to see Blithe Spirit again. I was delighted to be the guest of my friend Byrne, who writes StageBuzz.com.

The play is light and fizzy with old fashioned wit. The cast is running it through very tightly and it seems as though they are having as much fun as the audience is. Angela Lansbury was fiestier than ever and the ghostly duo, Christine Ebersole and Jayne Atkinson, have found some very funny moves to make it even more a physical comedy. Jayne has become one of my favorite stage actresses and I can't wait to see her in another production.

There is now exactly one month until the run finishes. Get tickets at broadwaybox.com.

Bonus sightings: Cynthia Nixon sat directly in front of us. Tony Walton was a few rows ahead.

Happy Birthday George Hearn!

I'm sending you kisses, hearts, flowers and hopefully a Broadway role soon!!!!

Annie

My mom drove me, my friend Jamie, my sister Mary and her friend Leah to Odessa to see Annie as a celebration for my 14th birthday. It was a huge treat. I loved it and it's still one of my favorite movies. I eventually saw the 20th Anniversary touring production in San Antonio when I was working at the Majestic Theatre in the late 90s. I didn't love the stage show and all I remember about it was the casting being a little weird - Sally Struthers was "Miss Hannigan".

I finally watched the documentary, Life After Tomorrow. This film is "by former Annie orphan Julie Stevens and Co-Director, Gil Cates Jr., reunites more than 40 women who played orphans in the original Broadway production of Annie and reveals thehighs and lows of their experiences as child actresses in a cultural phenomenon. "Life After Tomorrow" is a true behind-the-scenes look at the Annie experience."

It did give me a better appreciation of the stage production...but I still love the movie better. Of course, I'm sure I'd rethink this assessment if I had seen the incomparable Dorothy Loudon as the original Miss Hannigan.

Met Opera al Fresco

Mark your calendar for the Met's Summer HD Festival, featuring screenings of ten productions from the Live in HD series. The HD productions will be shown in Lincoln Center Plaza on consecutive nights—for free.

Saturday. August 29, 8:00pm: Donizetti's La Fille Du Regiment with Natalie Dessay as Marie, Juan Diego Flórez as Tonio, Felicity Palmer as the Marquise of Berkenfield, Alessandro Corbelli as Sulpice, and Marian Seldes in the speaking role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Marco Armiliato conducts.

Sunday, August 30, 7:30pm: Gounod's Romeo et Juliette starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna as the star-crossed lovers, Isabel Leonard as Stéphano, Nathan Gunn as Mercutio, and Robert Lloyd as Frère Laurent. Placido Domingo directs.

Monday, August 31, 7:45pm: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role opposite Renée Fleming as Tatiana, with tenor Ramón Vargas as Lenski. Valery Gergiev conducts.

Tuesday, September 1, 8:00pm: Verdi's Macbeth, featuring Maria Guleghina as Lady Macbeth, Željko Lučić as Macbeth, Dimitri Pittas as Macduff, and John Relyea as Banquo. James Levine conducts.

Wednesday, September 2, 7:45pm: Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia features Joyce DiDonato as Rosina, Juan Diego Flórez as Count Almaviva, Peter Mattei as Figaro, John Del Carlo as Dr. Bartolo, and John Relyea as Don Basilio. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Thursday, September 3, 7:45pm: Britten's Peter Grimes with Anthony Dean Griffey singing the title role, with Patricia Racette as Ellen Orford and Anthony Michaels-Moore as Balstrode. Donald Runnicles conducts.

Friday, September 4, 8:00pm: Pucinni's La Boheme with Angela Gheorghiu as Mimì, Ramón Vargas as Rodolfo, Ainhoa Arteta as Musetta, Ludovic Tézier as Marcello, Quinn Kelsey as Schaunard, Oren Gradus as Colline, and Paul Plishka in the dual roles of Benoit and Alcindoro. Nicola Luisotti conducts.

Saturday, September 5, 8:00pm: Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice starring Stephanie Blythe as Orfeo with Danielle de Niese as Euridice. Heidi Grant Murphy is Amor. James Levine conducts.

Sunday, September 6, 7:30pm: Puccini's Il Trittico, which consists of three one-act operas: Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi. In Il Tabarroare are Maria Guleghina, Salvatore Licitra, and Juan Pons. Barbara Frittoli is the young nun Angelica, with Stephanie Blythe as the Princess in Suor Angelica, and the comedy Gianni Schicchi features Alessandro Corbelli in the title role. James Levine conducts.

Monday, September 7, 8:00pm: Puccini's Madama Butterfly starring Patricia Racette as Cio-Cio-San, Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, Dwayne Croft as Sharpless, and Maria Zifchak as Suzuki. Patrick Summers conducts.

Quote of the Day

"I think the Kennedy Center is doing it next year."

About Follies, Victoria Clark to Edge in Boston, June 14, 2009

Tonight: Nothing like a Dame!

Tonight: Nothing like a Dame, benefitting the The Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative. Betty Buckley, Audra McDonald, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O'Hara, Andrea McArdle and Stephanie J. Block star! The irrepressible Seth Rudetsky hosts.

High Spirits at Musicals in Mufti at the York

Janine LaManna - Elvira
Howard McGillin - Charles
Veanne Cox - Ruth
Kirsten Wyatt - Edith
Carol Kane - Madame Arcati
Beth Glover - Mrs. Bradman
Daren Kelly - Dr. Bradman

High Spirits was absolutely entertaining! 85% of the book is the same as Blithe Spirit. Although I know the story, there are songs on the original cast recording, which I adore, that I couldn't imagine how they fit - but now it all makes sense! A ha! The ending is different than the play and got a big laugh.

The Mufti cast was absolutely fun. I dare say that Howard McGillin was a more charming Charles than that movie star playing over at the Shubert...plus that singing voice! I love seeing Veanne in anything - she's always so delightfully quirky. Carol Kane was terribly funny and loopy as Arcati. As Elvira, Janine tore it up - especially the number Home Sweet Heaven. With no room for an orchestra, the wonderful score was played on two pianos by Steven Freeman and Bobby Hirshhorn.

The original Dr. Bradman from the 1964 High Spirits, Larry Keith, was in the house as was the current Broadway Blithe Spirit Dr. Bradman, Simon Jones. Susan Louise O'Connor, who plays Edith in Broadway Blithe Spirit, was also there. What an extra treat! After, we went backstage to say hello to Veanne and then crashed the cast party.

Mufti (muffftee), which means "in street clothes without the usual trappings", was like a miniature, very well done, Encores! In fact, the creative director joked that Mufti means "shows that Encores! should do". Given how horrible the sightlines are at City Center and definitely more costly (although you get the full orchestra), I'd put my money down for another Mufti any time.

Tonight: High Spirits at Musicals in Mufti at the York

Tonight, Noah and I are seeing a staged reading of High Spirits! It's one of my favorite original cast albums. And guess what? It's the musical version of Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit!

High Spirits originally opened on April 7, 1964 and ran for 375 performances at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon). The music, lyrics and book are by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray. The Musical Director was Fred Werner and music was orchestrated by Harry Zimmerman. Noël Coward himself directed. Additional direction (uncredited) was by Gower Champion.

Noël Coward wrote Blithe Spirit over three weeks in 1940. Twenty years later, in the early 1960s, he was working on the musicals Sail Away and The Girl Who Came to Supper, both of which he wrote all of the music, lyrics and book, and then High Spirits. He wrote about the process of making the musical version and the launch in his diaries, . "The Noël Coward Diaries" were edited by Graham Payn and Sheridan Morley and published in 1982.

Here are excerpts about High Spirits:

Monday 4 February 1963 A great surprise happened. Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray came on Thursday morning to play the score of Blithe Spirit. I was all set to turn it down because it really has been going on far too long and I was sick of all the frigging about. Coley and I sat with our mouths open. It is quite brilliant. The music is melodic and delightful, the lyrics really witty, and they have done a complete book outline keeping to my original play and yet making it effective as a musical. I really am not only relieved but delighted. I've told them to go ahead, discussed the contract, and everything is on the way. I would like it to be played by Gwen Verdon, Celeste Holm, Keith Mitchell and Kay Thompson, and directed and choreographed by Robert Fosse. However, ideal castings seldom come true. The business set-up for this is fairly simple - a three-way cut throughout.

Sunday 17 March 1963 The record of Faster than Sound [working title for the Blithe Spirit musical] arrived. Hugh and Timothy have done it brilliantly. A thoroughly professional job. There really isn't a moderate number in it - they are all first-rate and about three obvious hits. Now all that remains to be done is to see to it that it is perfectly cast and directed and choreographed. Not so easy. The boys have done an admirable job on the script. They've kept to my dialogue throughout and yet contrived to open it up into a 'musical' shape. The few lines they have had to interpolate are completely in key. In fact, taken all round it is one of the best potential musicals I have ever seen. Let's pray that nothing goes wrong between now and production. So much depends on playing and direction. I intend to keep a firm eye on it from the word go. It is planned, on my suggestion, to play it for three months in Los Angeles and San Francisco first.

Monday 15 April 1963 Then I have had conferences about the Blithe Spirit musical and have agreed to direct it, starting rehearsals on 2 January.

Today we heard Edward Woodward (Rattle of a Simple Man) sing, and he was fine. It's a lovely voice and we know he is a good actor. Bea Lillie is mad about playing Arcati. She will bring to it star quality, moments of genius and little or no acting talent, but I'll settle. There's a strong possibility of Eileen Herlie for Ruth, and Gwen Verdon has been so idiotic over Elvira that, although she'd be a big draw, I've decided to let her stay at home. No coaxing. It's a waste of time. The next choice is Zizi Jeanmaire, who might be wonderful.

Sunday 21 July 1963 There have also been great carryings-on about Blithe Spirit. I took Beattie [Beatrice Lillie] to lunch. She looked wonderful and was very funny and sweet, but also she couldn't evenremember the beginnings of the sentences she'd started. As she was never good on words, this augurs ill for the future. I intend to give her a good talking to when I get back from Jamaica, where I go on Tuesday for three weeks. There is still more music to be done and there's really no point in hanging about in the hot city. I gave up the idea of going to England and Switzerland because it would be too exhausting. The present cast for Blithe Spirit (High Spirits) is Beatrice Lillie, Edward Woodward (fixed), and Celeste Holm and Tammy Grimes being negotiated. I want Tammy because she is a strong personality and will be good competition for Beattie. She wants to do it. We have definitely go the Alvin Theatre and will open there on 31 March after a week in New Haven, three weeks in Boston and three weeks in Philadelphia.

Sunday 25 August, 1963 Celeste Holm has dillied and dallied and finally refused Ruth, so we shall have to think again. Hugh and Tim have written a new opening number and an extra one for Ruth and Charles.

Sunday 8 September, 1963 We still haven't got a Ruth for High Spirits. Hugh and Tim are fussing a bit about finishing off the extra numbers, but I have been firm and made angry noises and they are now concentrating like crazy.

Sunday 22 September, 1963 High Spirits is now cast completely. We had an interesting audition and finally engaged Louise Troy for Ruth. She read it very well, twice, and sings adequately. Her looks are splendid.

Sunday 5 October, 1963 Bea Lillie has announced through her agent that she will appear in High Spirits unless she has two more numbers and this and that. I have talked to her firmly. Personally I wish to God she wouldn't do it. She's bound to be a bloody nuisance apart from not being able to act and not knowing a word. Really,these female stars!

Tuesday 22 October, 1963 On Thursday the tenth, flew back to New York. Had High Spirits meeting. Lunched with Bea, who wasn't tiresome at all, but very sweet.

Wednesday 11 December, 1963 [The Girl Who Came to Supper has just opened and there's a great account of that here] I have had tremendous conferences over High Spirits and it is all shaping up beautifully. I wish it could be postponed for a month to give me more time to rest, but it can't be so that's that. It feels to me that it will be a hit. The book, we know is solid. The score is excellent and the lyrics funny. We also have two authentic stars. I shall make the most of these three weeks and march with stately dignity into my sixty-fifth year!

Monday 16 December, 1963 It is only rarely, as in the case of Oklahoma! and West Side Story, that a big show can succeed without a star name. Fortunately, in High Spirits I shall have two, Beattie and Tammy. Also the book is solid.

Monday 13 January, 1964 High Spirits is progressing very well indeed. Tammy Grimes is going to be brilliant, Teddy Woodward excellent, Louise Troy ditto and Bea Lillie - well - it is impossible to decide. She has worked really hard for months, cannot retain more than a few sentences at a time, cannot act at all, has no idea of moving from one side of the stage to the other and yet contributes a curious quality of genius. She is driving me shrieking mad at every rehearsal and yet I know she is aching to please me. Today, after a week of indescribable hell, she got through the first act comparatively fluently One can only hope, grit one's teeth and pray for patience. Graham is being really invaluable as my assistant director. He is shrewd and authoritative and has got the company on this side. If Beattie really delivers, which I believe she will, we shall probably have a real smash hit.

Friday 24 January, 1964 This is a day off for the whole company including the wretched director, so I am springing to these pages to put on record that I am patient, kind, forbearing, sensible, gentle, decisive and brilliant. If I were not all of these things I should now be nestling cosily in a strait-jacket in some loony-bin. I have been rehearsing intensively and day after day I have sat quietly with my nails dug into the palms of my hands while Miss Lillie stumbles, flounders, forgets, remembers, drives the company mad and is as much like Madame Arcati as I am like Queen Victoria.

Sunday 9 February, 1964 On Monday night we opened [in New Haven]. Beattie fucked up the whole business in so far as the book was concerned, but managed to make a great success at the expense of the play, the cast and my nerves. However, the whole thing got rave notices and on Tuesday night she was more relaxed and actually got through the first scene without drying up more than twice. She went off into Turkish later on, but we mustn't ask too much. Her name and her personality and charm are enormous assets to the show. Her complete lack of concentration and inability to remember line4s is catastrophic, but to replace her with anyone else would be more damaging than allowing her to play it. Her pet swain, John Philip, is being a crashing bore and a bloody nuisance but he has been squelched for the time being. At one moment Beattie turned on me and was perfectly idiotic; however, she apologized within the hour and so I rose above it. Tammy is brilliant, Louise good. The show patchy and in need of a couple of new numbers. We are, however, completely sold out for the road tour - three weeks here [Boston] and three weeks in Philadelphia. I have remained calmly at the helm although there have been one or two moments when I would have liked to let fly.

Tuesday 10 March, 1964 Happily, however, the show is much better. Beattie has improved beyond belief and we are a sell-out here.

Monday 23 March, 1964 The news from the High Spirits front is curious. Tammy spent the last Philadelphia week in hospital suffering from self-induced hysteria and Beattie's notices. Lester [Osterman - producer] and Dick [Richard Horner, producer] came to me and asked if I minded them calling Gower Champion to pull the show together. I said I would be only too delighted. In due course he arrived and, at the first conference, listed everything that I have been saying for eight weeks. In addition to this he has some constructive ideas. I immediately, spurred on by his enthusiasm, wrote a new ending to the play as the present finale is hopeless. This went in on Friday night and was fine. Meanwhile, we have postponed the opening until 7 April.

I am sick to death of of High Spirits and everyone connected with it. I think, galvanized by Gower, it may be a success. At any rate, I have done all I can do.

Friday 10 April, 1964 High Spirits opened on Tuesday night and was an immediate success. Beattie came on with a star mixture of assurance and humility, took the audience by the scruff of its neck and shook it into a state of adoring frenzy. Tammy was brilliant and gave a fine performance but, owing to Gower Champion's over-direction, was considerably less good than she had been in Boston and Philadelphia. Teddy Woodward was very good, which is all be ever can be in this part. He sang well and acted well, but he is essentially a character actor and he will never really dominate in a straight part. Incidentally, he is one of the nicest, most co-operative actors I have ever worked with. In all hurly-burly, indecisiveness and inefficient chaos of this production he is the only one who has given me no trouble at all. Louise Troy came up a fair treat and made a great success. In fact, the performance was very good. The sets and dresses remain muddled, uninspired and tatty.

The calling in of Gower Champion in Philadelphia turned out on the whole to be a very good thing indeed. He has achieved some minor miracles and the whole show moves with more smoothness, speed and ease than it did before. He is a remarkable man of the theatre, and as at the moment of his intrusion I was ill and exhausted and really incapable of fighting any more minor battles, I am extremely grateful to him. I think he has contributed a great deal to the show's success. His own error, and it was an important one, was that he fiddled about too much with my direction of the dialogue scenes, which were always good anyhow. Like all choreographers, he hasn't enough faith in words and repose. His worst error has been to try to 'bring Tammy up'. What he has succeeded in doing is making her restless and fidgety.

Beattie, with all her fluffy-mindedness and lack of any acting technique whatever, is unquestionably a great star and has that indestructible capacity for making the audience love her. Her beguiling smile and her, at moments, incredible funniness are magical and, so far as the public is concerned it doesn't matter how many lines she forgets and how many mistakes she makes. She is adored. The public are amused by Tammy and they admire her, but she is not loved. At any rate, the show is a hit and I can only hope and pray that it doesn't droop and die in a few months.

High Spirits was nominated for eight Tony Awards but did not win any. It was up the same year as Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly!. Hello, Dolly! practically swept that year. A West End production of High Spirits opened at the Savoy Theatre in November, 1964, also directed by Noël Coward. It only ran for 93 performances. The cast included Denis Quilley as Charles, Marti Stevens as Elvira, Jan Waters as Ruth, and Cicely Courtneidge as Madame Arcati.

@NYPL - Katharine Hepburn: In Her Own Files

Today, I took in the new exhibit, Katharine Hepburn: In Her Own Files, at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts. Katharine was a silver screen icon, but she began her career on the stage.

I was thrilled to walk amongst pictures of her from productions, as well as her papers including annotated scripts, rehearsal notebooks, letters and telegraphs. The exhibit is comprised from The Katharine Hepburn Papers, Billy Rose Theatre Division. The documents, all theatre related, are from her life and stage career from the late 1920s through the mid-1990s. Click here to watch a short video about the collection.

A bonus of the exhibit is previously taped video exerpts from programs about Katharine by Marian Seldes, Zoe Caldwell, Dick Cavett, Anthony Harvey and Sam Waterston. Marian's reading of Katharine's letters were particularly entertaining. Marian was married to the late Garson Kanin, who wrote the screenplay of Adam's Rib, the 1949film starring Kate and Spencer Tracy.

One of the first movies I remember watching with my Dad was the 1975 Rooster Cogburn. We saw it at the drive-in movies in California. Needless to say, Kate and John Wayne left an impression on me. Now, I've seen most of Katharine's movies and I'd give anything to travel in time to see her live on stage. In fact, I like Katharine Hepburn so much that I named my cat after the character Tracy Lord from the 1940 movie The Philadelphia Story (my other cat, Tracy's brother, is named C.K. Dexter Haven, after Cary Grant's character).

The exhibit runs until October 10, 2009, and is in the Vincent Astor Gallery, located on the lower level of the Performing Arts Library in Lincoln Center.

Addionally, on Saturdays at 2:30 pm in July and August, 8 films starring Katharine will be screened in the Bruno Walter auditorium located on the lower level of the Performing Arts Library in Lincoln Center: July 11 - The Philadelphia Story, July 18 - Morning Glory, July 25 - Holiday, August 1 - State of the Union (Angela Lansbury and Spencer Tracy co-star. Kate suggested Angela for the role as the tough talking newspaper woman and Tracy's lover - she was 23, he was 48), August 8 - Summertime, August 15 - Suddenly Last Summer, August 22 - The Trojan Women, and August 29 - A Delicate Balance.

Click on images to embiggen.

Quote of the Day

This whole damn video of Conversations with John Lahr: Angela Lansbury for the June 11, 2009 New Yorker is a Quote of the Day.

Oh Mama, Phylicia Rashad in August: Osage County!

Phylicia Rashad is now playing matriarch "Violet Weston" in August: Osage County and last Saturday night, I had the opportunity to catch her performance.

August is the story of a Oklahoma family that comes to together to mourn the loss of its patriarch. As the story unfolds, it soon becomes clear that this is about more than just a tale about a death in the family.

When I heard Phylicia would be going in to the Pulitzer and Tony winning August, arguably one of the greatest American plays written, I was uber excited. She's one of my favorite stage actresses - I saw her brilliant performances in A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean and Bernarda Alba. I also saw her in Cymbeline (not brilliant but wonderfully fun and practically campy - and John Cullum who played her husband there, is also the patriarch here).

Phylicia has had some experience with motherhood, both in real life and in acting. But Violet is in the league of mothers from hell - think Joan Crawford as portrayed in Mommie Dearest or "Mrs. Iselin" in The Manchurian Candidate. Even though Violet is a woman from a small town in the plains of Oklahoma, and presumably white I might add, I thought if anybody could pull it off, it would be Phylicia.

On tv and even as a celebrity, Phylicia comes across as regal and elegant, the exact opposite of Violet Weston. In Raisin, Gem (especially) and Bernarda, she transformed her off-and-on-stage personality to become those characters and she's done it again here.

Indeed, here she is spectacularly transformed to practically unrecognizable.

In the first act, just after her daughter "Barbara" has returned home to await news of her father, Violet says, "I'm just so scared". This is an ominous line. Because what is to come is very, very scary.

I saw the original cast of August perform three times. Each time I was stunned and thrilled by their performances, particularly Deanna Dunagan who originated the role of Violet and won the Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Play. The thing about Deanna, and the rest of the cast, especially Rondi Reed, who also took a Tony for her turn as "Mattie Faye", that really got me was that reminded me so much of my own family. Not the fighting, drugs, or dysfunction, but their mannerisms.

But Phylicia didn't remind me of home at all. This time I was completely enthralled at the story that unfolded at the same time as being shaken by the characters. She completely inhabits this wretched woman "Violet". She was at once strong but weak, a victim of her own upbringing, her own failures and her own attempt to control situations, egged on by an addition to prescription pills.

Phylicia's timing is perfect. During the second act, there's a funny, and one of the only light-hearted, scene between Violet and her sister "Mattie Faye", now being played beautifully by Elizabeth Ashley. They are reminiscing and just cutting up the way sisters do. It is practically miraculous that in less than 2 weeks of performances they have already managed to play it as though they have been playing it a year together. She later has this perfection in timing with Barbara, who is played by the incredible Amy Morton (from the original cast), but on an entirely different plane of action.

Then it's on to an extended family dinner and it's really time to be very afraid. It becomes not just a family drama, but a horror story. Phylicia's Violet wastes no time in putting the fear in to her family or the audience. Her biting delivery is shiveringly cold and vicious. By the time the dinner is at its fateful end, Violet screams, "I'll eat you alive, girl!" to her daughter Barbara. I thought, "My God, it's really going to happen!"

Then came the third act. Phylicia showed an entirely different ego here. Her Violet became devastatingly pitiful. I ached for Violet's pain and loneliness even while loathing her for her inability to overcome her selfish self-destructiveness.

Phylicia Rashad's giving a powerhouse performance as Violet. She proves that this is one of the greatest of roles and goes on to claim it for herself with extraordinary ferocity .

Go see her in August: Osage County with a broadwaybox discount. It's at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street and tickets are on sale at least until September 6th.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

Watch more AOL Black Voices videos on AOL Video

Quote of the Day

Thomas Hampson to Susan Graham: Look, you are so well known for French repertoire, and of course, Berlioz wrote everything for you. Did you know him?

During the intermission interview at Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust, Metropolitan Opera, November 14, 2008

Greeting Megan Hilty in Shubert Alley

After Blithe Spirit last night, Kevin, Roxie and I were just basking in the glow of seeing 5 Time Tony Winner Angela Lansbury (and loitering in) in Shubert Alley, when I noticed Megan Hilty strolling by. Megan is currently starring as Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 the Musical. Doralee is the character Dolly Parton played in the 1980 movie Nine to Five.

I called out to her and she stopped to chat with us. She is absolutely one of the nicest young stars on Broadway. I had such fun at 9 to 5 and I loved that Megan's sort of playing Dolly playing Doralee. You see, Dolly was my first Diva. Megan captures her exuberance perfectly and has a sweet voice, joyful smile and looks to match.

Thanks for the chat, Megan!

First Tuesday after the Tonys

It has become our tradition to attend the first performance of a show after the Tonys. The first show I did this for was Sweeney Todd. Inexplicably, Sweeney didn't win, nor did any of its nominated leads, but it was thrilling to be there. It was obvious that fans of the show and cast were there to show love and support, win or lose. The house was loud with appreciation!

Two years ago, we went to Grey Gardens. What a thrill it was to be there to see new Tony winners Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, who won Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

Last year, we took a chance that Gypsy would be the show to see on that first Tuesday. Patti LuPone, Boyd Gains and Laura Benanti didn't disappoint - they brought home the Tonys and brought down the house.

This year, Noah, Kevin, Roxie and I are taking in the first post-Tony performance of Blithe Spirit. There's a reason why Angela Lansbury won the Tony for Best Supporting Actress in a Play and I know she'll prove it again tonight. No doubt the cheering will be reverberating out into Shubert Alley for this 5-Time Tony Winner!

Tony Party Recap

My Annual Tony Party has become my grown-up prom - I am the Prom Queen and I have the best dates imaginable, kings and queens all! We grew to ten this year - returning were Kari, Kevin, Roxie, Jimmy, Russell, Christine, Sally, and newcomers were Byrne and Esther.

I moved our party to a fabulous suite at the Regency Hotel on Park Avenue this year and a brilliant idea it was - it was wonderful to take advantage of a big screen tv, plenty of seating, etc. The hit of the buffet were cucumber sandwiches in honor of Madame Arcati and rice crispy treats in honor of [title of show].

I threw in a drinking game - we randomly drew for name tags of Broadway personalities who might make an appearance. I was Liza - kismet because we were incidentally dressed alike - oh, we are so smart with the sparkles! I think Esther - who drew the tag "Hello, my name is Angie" - won this bubbly game. I even hooked us up with swag, or what passes for it with show magnets (no I didn't pinch them!) Thankfully Kari snapped a few pictures, but note to the 2010 Tony Party Planning Committee: hire tee-totaling photographer to capture every fabulous moment.

The highlight of the broadcast for me was seeing my beloved Angela Lansbury win her 5th Tony for Best Supporting Actress in a Play! The adorable Neil Patrick Harris was a fabulous host, although he wasn't actually on the show enough. He killed with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's 11 o'clock number. I loved seeing the glorious Karen Olivo win Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Gregory Jbarra win the Best Supporting Actor in a Musical as well as The Norman Chronicles winning Best Rivival of a Play. OH, and I was thrilled Liza May.

I love the Tony Awards (despite CBS' and the Theatre Wing's attempt to make it a ratings and marketing event) and I would watch anyway...but being in a room full of fellow Broadwayites (thank you, Angie for naming us in your accepantance speech!) - and via twitter with my darlings Steve on Broadway and Robertianish - just put a crown on the night!